It took a lot of coaxing by Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to convince his minister of state Arjun Khotkar to stay away from a Lok Sabha contest in Jalna against BJP state president Raosaheb Danve.

On Sunday, Khotkar agreed to step down and assured his leader he would not defect to the Congress or contest as an independent, and cooperate fully with Danve and BJP. Khotkar will now be Sena's coordinator in the Marathwada region.